Nov. 13, 2001 Air Crash over New York Was Work of Al Qaeda Suicide, Says Canadian Intelligence

DEBKAfile Special Report

August 30, 2004, 10:30 PM (GMT+02:00)

According to a top secret Canadian government report, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York, had a sequel two months later. On November 13, 2001, American Airlines flight 587 crashed over Queens, New York, shortly after takeoff from JFK killing all 265 people aboard. A captured al-Qaeda operative, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, told Canadian intelligence investigators that a Montreal man who trained in Afghanistan alongside the 9/11 hijackers was responsible, using a small shoe bomb similar to the one used by convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid for his “suicide mission.” He named Abderraouf Jdey, a Canadian citizen known also as “Farouk the Tunisian.”

This is reported in Canada’s National Post

Asked for a comment, US National Transportation Safety Board spokesman, Ted Lopatkiewicz, still insisted there was no evidence of anything other than an accident (in the plane crash over Queens.) It appears, at least the evidence we have, is that a vertical fin came off, not that there was any kind of event in the cabin.”

The same kinds of claims were made officially three years ago too. Yet on November 15, 2001 DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources maintained that the downing of Flight 587 was the work of terrorists:

The Information accumulating opens up the possibilities of a bomb having been planted near the tail of the Airbus, or a suicide bomber blowing himself up in the rear of the aircraft. The plane came down shortly after taking off for the Dominican Republic from John F. Kennedy International airport. Another scenario under investigation is that a surface-to-air missile was fired from a boat in Jamaica Bay near the airport.

According to DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources, a number of people linked to Al Qaeda in New York behaved suspiciously several hours before the crash; some, who were under surveillance following the September 11 attacks, managed to disappear, with the FBI unable to determine how they slipped away or trace their current whereabouts.

Those sources also noted that the US F-15 warplanes, on 24-hour patrol in the skies of New York and other major US cities, were ordered immediately after the crash to search for any boats or unusual activity in the Jamaica nature reserve.

The morning after, Wednesday, November 14, divers were seen scouring the marsh area for signs that missiles had been fired at the plane, such as a launcher or a scuttled boat, on the assumption that the terrorist who fired the missile escaped in a scuba suit.

Despite adamant denials by the US Federal Aviation Authority, it is now becoming clear that prior to the crash, US intelligence did indeed receive numerous warnings from intelligence sources outside the United States that a terrorist strike was likely on Tuesday, Veterans Day, to mark the two-month anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. (End of quote)

According to the US 9/11 commission, Jdey, 39, came to Canada from Tunisia in 1991 and become a citizen in 1995. With his new passport, he left for Afghanistan and trained with some of the September 11 hijackers. He was dropped from the 9/11 mission after recording a “martyrdom” video. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, planner of the World Trade Center attack, claims Jdey was recruited for a “second wave” of suicide attacks. In 2002, he was one of seven al Qaeda members sought in connection with possible terrorist threat in the United States.